Missing
by Magdalan-Saiyan-Toa
Summary: Jester has vanished! Only a trio of young women from a band of gypsies seem to know anything about the matter. Just who are they? And what happened to Jester?


**It is three years into the future, meaning Jane and Pepper are fifteen; Rake is sixteen; Smithy, Jester, and Gunther are seventeen. Lavinia is nine and Cuthbert is eleven. King Caradoc is thirty-three and Queen Gwendolyn is thirty-one. Sir Theodore is sixty-nine. Sir Ivon's age is unknown XD Mainly because Jane and the Dragon: Royal Archives do not give his age. Milton (Jane's father) is forty-one and Adeline (Jane's mother) is thirty-nine. And lastly, Magnus is forty-four.**

**It took me while to write just this chapter because I could not word anything right.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane and the Dragon.

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**Missing**

**Chapter 1**

"Pepper," Jane said, "have you seen Jester?"

The young woman named Pepper jumped at the sound of her friend's voice. She turned around, hand on her rapidly beating heart and sighing seeing who it was.

"Jane! I thought I told you not to _do_ that!" Pepper gasped. She puffed, sending the air up and fluttering the loose strands of hair that hung around her oval face. "And, no, I have not seen him since this morning. Have you asked Rake or Smithy?"

"Yes and neither of them have seen him."

"Has Gunther?"

"No, I just asked him."

"I will let you know if I hear or see anything of him."

"Thank you, Pepper!" Jane said, smiling lightly as she walked up the short stairwell to the courtyard. She winced at the sudden light of the sun.

"Nothing of Jester yet?" Rake's voice asked, carrying across his garden.

"No." Jane sighed to him. "I think I will look around the forest."

"Good idea!"

The red-haired young woman shook her head, smiling at the naivety of the gardener.

She needed to talk to Jester. Badly. Besides, it would be good to get some fresh air.

Shrugging, she walked away from the garden to find Dragon. Her red hair swayed and danced as she strolled through the castle ground, trying to find the giant, green lizard that could fly and breathe fire. She spotted him snoring away along the battlements.

"Dragon!" Jane called up to him.

"Huh? Wha…?" Dragon snorted, blinking tiredly and looking about wildly. He spotted his red-haired short-life friend and smiled. "Oh, Jane, did you find Jester yet?"

"No but I have an idea."

"A what?"

"An idea."

"A _what_?"

"An… I thought you have excellent hearing." Jane asked, raising an arched eyebrow as Dragon landed in front of her in a somewhat graceful manner.

"I do, I am just tired is all."

"Well, never mind. Come, let us go look for Jester in the forest."

"Wait, right now? As in right now _now_?"

"Yes, you Big Newt. Right now _now_."

"Fine, let us go." Dragon puffed, stretching his bat-like wings.

Jane chuckled and easily climbed onto the back of Dragon's neck. Within seconds, the two were off into the air, looking for the missing court jester.

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The blue sky faded to a brilliant array of oranges, pinks, blues, and violets as the sun retired for the day. It was then that Jane decided it was best to return back to the place she called home.

"Dragon, it is getting dark. I think it would be best to go back." Jane said loudly against the wind. "Maybe Jester has returned."

"Jane you know I can—" Dragon stopped mid-sentence. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear _what_? It is impossible to hear anything but the wind!"

"But yet you hear my voice?"

"You have a voice that is very distinct and I know how to listen for it. What was it you heard?"

"I do not know. It sounded like a mix of a startled cry, a gurgling sound and a croak."

"Best to land near to source of the sound to make sure everything is alright."

With a graceful swoop, Dragon found a clearing near where he thought the sound had come from and landed.

Jane tiptoed quietly around twigs that could easily snap under her feet, tree roots that could trip her and send her hurtling into thorn bushes or quicksand, and rocks that could tub her toes. It was not long before her ears picked up harsh whispers.

"…said you had it under control!" one voice said. Jane guessed she was older than herself, sixteen. A woman with an accent. Not from the highlands, no. The woman had an oddly familiar accent, like one she had heard a long time ago. Where had she heard that accent before?

"I did! I mean, I still do!" said another person. This was a female too. Around the same age, Jane guessed, as the other woman. She had the same accent too.

Jane peeked through the branches of a bush. Her long fingers parted the leaves and spotted the two women. She nearly let out an audible gasp at the sigh of them.

Gypsies.

Both woman had dark brown hair that trailed after them as they scanned the little clearing they stood in.

The taller one dressed in red, browns, oranges, and blues looked more frustrated than the other. Her amber eyes danced about the little clearing.

The other woman was shorter and moved more gracefully than her companion. The blue and violet of her dress seemed to blend together in the dimming light. Her green-silver eyes were much calmer that her friend's amber ones.

"Maybe we should look for him tomorrow." said the shorter woman, her full lips barely moving from the pout they had set themselves in.

"What?" shrieked the taller woman, amber eyes bogging. "We can not _leave_ him here! Oh, I wish I knew how to properly use that finding spell."

"Finding spell? If you _know_ the finding spell, why not use it?"

"_Because_," said a little girl, "Aunty Fortunata, Momma is not that good of a witch yet."

Jane blinked, noticing the little girl. She was small and sitting on a log, legs pulled up to her chest and dark brown hair covering her face.

"Not a witch, dear." said the taller woman. "Magick weaver."

"Magick weaver, witch, wizard, shaman— same thing!" the short woman 'Aunty Fotunata' mumbled. "Whatever you are, you are not good at it nor are you a good mother. Bringing young Anya out here to see her mother 'weave' magick. Bah! One can not _weave_ magick."

Jane saw the taller woman roll her eyes.

The red-haired young woman shifted her legs to a more comfortable position so she could listen longer.

From what she had gathered, the witch— Magick Weaver, she corrected— had woven a spell over someone. She had brought her daughter out to see her at work and they had happened upon someone. She hoped it was not Jester they had run into.

The familiar chirp of a small, winged mammal caused Jane to go rigid.

"What was that?" Jane heard the little girl ask.

"A bat, dear one." the Magick Weaver said.

"Bat?!"

"Hush, it will not harm you."

Jane felt the bat dive down and snatch some poor bug to feast on. She yelped and fell forward, through the bushes and towards the two woman and the girl. Cursing her luck, she stood up and dusted herself off. She heard Dragon call her name behind her.

Her green eyes looked up sheepishly at the other three.

"Er… hello." she said.

"Hello." the short woman name Fortunata said, her full lips pressed tightly together.

"How much did you hear?" the Magick Weaver asked, brown hair tumbling wildly over her shoulders

"I am terribly sorry. I was just looking for a friend of mine. I happened to hear your voices and thought he might be over here. I am terribly sorry." Jane said.

"You are from the castle, are you not?" the little girl asked, eyeing Jane's brilliant green uniform.

"Well, um, yes, I am.

The tall woman smiled and said, "Rye has told us much about you."

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**I felt like doing something random so I created a "Randomness" section. It is filled with random things. It may be information, a quote, or some other spontaneous subject. Some are useful, others are humorous. This one is more informational than the other I have. And it's on the sadder side too. The others are off the wall.**

**Randomness: Bats are fascinating creatures. I have always admired them. Did you know that the way the use echolocation is unique only to them? They send out sound frequencies and the sounds echo back at them. Their minds are able to slow down time so that the sound can reach an item or dodge an item within milliseconds. The largest known species is Giant golden-crowned flying fox (a.k.a. Golden-capped fruit bat) is an endangered species. They have a wingspan of 5ft (1.5m)— that is as tall as me!**


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